NEOS launch new push to raise the retirement age in Austria

NEOS: Conduct the debate openly and free of ideology

According to the NEOS' vision, the discussion about an adjustment should be conducted "offen, ehrlich und ideologiebefreit". Shetty said verbatim: "Wir NEOS haben schon immer gesagt, dass wir offen, ehrlich und ideologiebefreit über eine derartige Anpassung diskutieren müssen." For the NEOS, raising the retirement age is only conceivable within the framework of the sustainability mechanism.

Shetty assessed the reforms already adopted as an important first step, but not an endpoint. "Das sind die größten Reformen im Pensionsbereich seit 20 Jahren, es darf aber erst der Anfang gewesen sein", he said. There is no way around a discussion about adjusting the entry age.

ÖVP signals movement

The NEOS received support from the ranks of the ÖVP. Finance spokesperson Andreas Ottenschläger said on Sunday on the ORF program "Hohes Haus" that the People's Party is already openly discussing a raising of the retirement age. "für bestimmte Gruppen werde dieses wohl früher oder später erhöht werden müssen", said Ottenschläger. The ÖVP links this to the hope that the coalition partner SPÖ will also show movement on this issue.

Shetty welcomed Ottenschläger's statements as supportive. The NEOS expect, according to their own account, less resistance from the ÖVP than from the SPÖ on a possible raising of the retirement age. As a model, Shetty cited the Swedish model, "wo das gesetzliche Pensionsantrittsalter an die Lebenserwartung gekoppelt ist".

SPÖ rejects further increase

The SPÖ, on the other hand, is skeptical. Andreas Babler had already made clear in April that any increase going beyond the raising of women's retirement age is "für die SPÖ ausgeschlossen". Babler also noted that the current government program does not provide for any further increase in the retirement age.

Sweden as a model

This points to a classic area of tension within the coalition: the NEOS are pressing ahead, the ÖVP signals a fundamental willingness to talk, and the SPÖ is digging in its heels. Concrete legislative steps to raise the retirement age are currently not provided for in the government program.

The dispute over the future of Austria's pension system is therefore likely to pick up speed in the coming weeks. Shetty summed up the NEOS' concern in a simple formula: there is no way around a discussion about adjusting the entry age.